Advertisment

The Gateway to Voice

author-image
DQI Bureau
New Update

The first wave toward convergence-VoIP is becoming a necessary bargain in the

process of cutting down traditional telephone costs. More companies–in fact

far more companies than a year ago–are seeing the import of transporting voice

over IP networks to reduce phone costs, even as the adoption rate for the

technology in India remains low.

Advertisment

Voice over IP is enabling enterprises that have long and frequent

intra-branch calls, both within India and overseas, to bring down their call

costs to zero–by utilizing the unused data network capacity to transport voice

over it.

Most often, VoIP is confused with IP telephony. IP telephony is a generic

name used to imply transmission of voice and fax over packet-switched IP-based

networks. VoIP and Internet telephony are both sub-sets of IP technology,

wherein voice is transported over a managed network–dedicated lines–while

the latter is over a public network using regular Internet connections.

Let’s talk legality



Most corporates are unclear about the legal issues related to VoIP. Before

deregulation, voice over IP in a closed user group was always legal. Even after

deregulation, calls from a PC (using a soft phone) or IP-based phones still

could terminate on a PSTN anywhere in India, though calls from an IP telephone

or PC from India can terminate onto a PSTN abroad. However, calls from a PC or

IP-based phones still haven’t terminated on another PC or IP phone within

India, except in a CUG or over a dedicated link.

Advertisment

Quality of voice equivalent to that of PSTN is achievable even in the case of

running voice over a data network. "There are people who think that voice

quality over an IP is poor–given good line conditions, most solutions can give

voice quality better than a PSTN," said HS Mony, national manager (sales

and marketing), Multitech.

Requirements



Because there are typical requirements or demands from the data network over

which voice is to be transported, it is necessary that certain aspects be kept

in mind before a VoIP deployment.

Sound quality: If you get it right, you get the regular toll quality using

VoIP, between 16-18 kbps. But in such cases, voice delays should not typically

exceed 150 minutes. Sound quality depends on the bandwidth available and the

configurations made with the codec. MoS (mean opinion score) is a subjective

method used for measuring voice quality. Its value ranges between 1 and 5. A

quality rating of 3 to 5 is fair to excellent, while ratings between 1 to 2 are

considered poor.

Advertisment

Network performance: Sometimes, a network performing well might fail to

deliver when voice is added to it. There are several methods of calculating

voice quality over a data link, but three key measurements of a data network for

sound quality  are delay, jitter and packet losses.

The guide



There are two existing scenarios for implementing VoIP:

n The first is a

parallel set-up, which is implementing for a set-up without interfacing with the

PBXs. In this case, voice would be run over the data network and would involve

installing VoIP gatekeepers and gateways and IP phones. However, one is not

allowed to interface an IP-PBX with a PBX that terminates on a PSTN. The costs

of gateways range between Rs 15,000 to 1.25 lakh; and

Advertisment

n This involves

interfacing IP-enabling boxes with the PBX, while voice is routed over the data

network. These kind of boxes IP-enables the PBXs. The chances are good for those

who have bought routers lately, for they come with voice-enabling capabilities.

This feature helps to recognize and prioritize voice packets that run on data

links. IP-phones costs between Rs 8, 000 and Rs 45,000.

Case

Study: Net4India
RoI

in Under Two Months

Existing connection:

WAN




No of branches connected with VoIP:
9

(across India)




Bandwidth capacity available for data:
64

kbps




Bandwidth used for voice:
8 kbps



Cost of calls before deployment:
Rs 2.5

lakh per month




Cost of calls after deployment:
Nil



Cost savings:
100%



Total investment made:
Rs 4.5 lakh



RoI achieved:
Under two months



Maintenance and recurring costs:
Nil



Vendor selected:
Multitech

Net4India installed VoIP

for internal corporate communication. VoIP boxes were installed at each of

its nine locations across India and each was assigned a static IP. For

transferring voice over the existing data link, Net4India is using 8 kbps

of the total 64 kbps capacity. Since the quality of sound depends on the

bandwidth available and the type of encoder used, Multitech gives

configuration options for encoders, ranging from 8 to 20 kbps.

Step1: Planning and evaluating for VoIP



Like every major IT project, planning and evaluation become crucial phases in a
voice over IP implementation–and can extend to anywhere between four and eight

months. Evaluation will need an assessment of reliability, bandwidth and quality

of voice of the existing data network. One would also need to access the volume

and duration of calls from traditional phone lines, and those calls from among

them that would be diverted onto a data network. One would also need to assess

bandwidth usage by data over the network and the amount that would be needed by

voice. After this, one can determine the extent of deployment, tentative costs

that will be involved, and the components that will be required in the

implementation. Analyzing return on investment from your VoIP implementation is

also recommended at this stage.

Advertisment

Step2: Upgrading



After planning and evaluation, the next step would be to upgrade the existing
network and switches as per the requirements of the sound quality over the data

network. This is essential because most often, many applications run on a

typical enterprise network and, therefore, the data network is not ready to

transport voice and deliver the necessary toll sound quality. Changes using QoS

techniques are used so that voice over IP is given priority over file-transfer

traffic. The underlying network must support IP and be capable of handling

real-time telephone and facsimile.

Step3: Laying out the topology



Having gone through the first two steps, one can move into the stage of laying
out the topology of the network according to one’s requirements and existing

infrastructure. This would involve determining and charting out the exact

location of various VoIP devices on the network, as well as a graphical

representation of layout.

Step4: Running a pilot



Before buying the necessary VoIP components, one must ensure that the chosen
vendor runs pilot tests for them. At this stage, one can actually access what

one needs to buy and the kind of configurations at this stage needed. This, in

fact, would help determine the VoIP components that would be needed.

Advertisment

Step5: Buying the right equipment



After a pilot run, you can safely determine the kind of equipment or components
that you will need thereafter. And based on the configurations of the equipment

and functionality, you can estimate the exact costs and requirements of the

implementation.

Step6: Running the actual implementation



Having given due consideration and re-checking the problems during the pilot
run, you can then move ahead with the actual implementation. The final stage

will also involve training at least one of your tream members in understanding

the layout and technology.

Justifying RoI



The incremental investment on an IP PBX is linear, whereas in a normal PBX,

it is exponential. And one can justify the return on investment on an IP PBX by

estimating calling costs made by using traditional phones, and as exemplified in

the two case studies presented with this report– Net4India and Industrial

Finance Corporation of India. RoI is easily justified as there are zero

recurring monthly costs of the new technology and returns, therefore, come in

quickly, depending on the extent of the deployment.

Advertisment

"The cost of implementation varies, depending on configuration–whether

a two-four-eight port VoIP box is used and on hardware requirements like

routers, IP phones, wherever required. What also matters is whether Internet

bandwidth is taken on a leased line, ISDN, plus the bandwidth of the VPN port,

integration and configuration of systems and the number of locations," says

Vijay Gogoi, product manager at iServe.

Why VoIP?



n Because it

doesn’t make sense to run dual networks, and using a single network will drive

costs down;

n PSTN-based

technologies will limit future use. Protecting existing investments on PBX

migrations, therefore, can be done over a period of time, easily;

n There is

efficient bandwidth management–on an average, 30% of any data network is

under-utilized; and

n Shorter RoI,

zero running costs and negligible scaling costs

Case

Study: Industrial Finance Corporation of India
Once

Smitten, Twice Try

Existing connection: Leased



No of branches connected with VoIP:


6 (across India)




Bandwidth capacity available for data:


64 kbps




Bandwidth used for voice:


16-32 kbps (depending on the codec configuration used)




Cost of calls before deployment:


50,000 x 6= Rs 3 lakh per month




Cost of calls after deployment:


Nil




Cost savings:


100%




Total investment made:


15,000 x 6=Rs 95,000




RoI achievement time:


Under a month




Maintenance and recurring costs:


Nil




Quality of Sound:


3.9 (Mean Opinion Score achieved)




Vendor selected:


D-Link

IFCI installed D-Link

VoIP gateway boxes (each with four ports) for connecting six of its

branches. VoIP gateway boxes or IP-enabling boxes were installed at each

of the six locations and all were interfaced to existing PBXs in each

branch. IFCI is now considering connecting another six branches.

Vendors march



The race is on among vendors to provide and manufacture VoIP solutions for

new opportunities–globally and locally. Even network manufacturing vendors

like Cisco and D-Link are competing to provide VoIP solutions. Global companies

like Cisco, D-Link, Avaya and VocalTec have mostly been seen carrying out

largescale deployments, mainly for government networks and public voice

carriers. VocalTec just entered the Indian market, offering packet voice

solutions for carriers.

D-Link is already manufacturing VoIP products in India.

Local players trying to get a hold on the domestic market are ISPs like

Satyam, iServe and Net4India. They are now delving into not only carrying voice

over their managed networks, but are offering VoIP equipment and solutions. VoIP

is also helping ISPs improve their usage-based pricing and volumes are rising.

Fence-sitters



The underlying characteristics of the Indian corporates that have already

deployed VoIP (around 10%)–multi-locational offices both in India and

overseas, frequent calls, and the need for a low-cost alternative. Segment-wise,

the highest adoption has been seen among IT, ITeS and telecom companies,

segments where there’s a high level of awareness about the technology and its

spinoff benefits. India is seeing slow adoption of the technology, leaving the

technology at an early adopter’s stage.

Future



At present, investments in VoIP are targeted at setting the stage for

advanced multimedia applications. "Although services stemming from the

technology are basic telephony and facsimile, the applications of the future are

unified messaging and follow-me call support, 2x4 conferencing and future

services that will extend to multimedia and multi-service applications,"

says D-Link’s director (VoIP) Gunneswara Rao.

A study estimates that almost 70% of messages that are sent from corporate

Asia to overseas are faxes–because of high telephone costs. This can be

readily substituted by voice–once VoIP is implemented in a wider manner over

corporate networks.

Because the PSTN cannot be replaced or changed in the near future, solution

providers must look into providing their VoIP offerings at lower than existing

costs. And with myths that have surrounded the technology ever since it came to

common light being laid bare now, adoption of VoIP–both for shorter RoI

achievables and long-term benefits–should see healthy growth in coming times.

Radhika Bhuyan In New Delhi

Advertisment